YSI Sanborn Science and Nature Center

About Us:

Nestled within Sanborn County Park in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains, YSI's Sanborn Science and Nature Center has been open to the public since 1982. Aubrey Creek flows year-round through this magnificent redwood setting. The waterway hosts many types of habitats found within the surrounding landscape: redwood forest, chaparral, oak woodland, and riparian. The famous San Andreas Fault also runs directly through the Park, behind the historic Dyer House, which YSI calls home.

Constructed as a family retreat, the H.P. Dyer House is a registered historic landmark with a rich Santa Clara Valley history, which YSI leases from Santa Clara County Parks. It was built circa 1915 for retired engineer and sugar manufacturing executive Harold Parker Dyer. The sale of a 500-acre portion of the Dyer Family estate in the 1960s to the County of Santa Clara was the foundation of Sanborn County Park, which now occupies over 3,688 acres.